Senate Newsletter - Fall 2013

Administrative & Fiscal

Operating Budget
In Fall 2013, the Senate's operating budget was used to pay for personnel and recurring costs, including the Senate APT's salary, Senate Executive Committee relief funds, printer and phone bill. A Senate Research Assistant was also hired in early November. Additional office supplies including an external hard drive, pens, a stapler, tape, and glue were also purchased. The Senate received additional funding to send a faculty representative to attend the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) Convention in Spring 2014. Review the approved 2013-14 MFS Operating Budget for complete details.

Research AssistantThe Senate Executive Committee hired Nicole Deville, Candidate for a Masters of Public Health, as our Senate Research Assistant in early November. A summary of research projects is included below -

Report on Faculty Senates at UHM Peer and Benchmark Institutions
The report on Faculty Senates was produced to see how MFS compares to peer and benchmark institutions in website content, structure and substantive issues under review. The report provides a summary of each institution’s campus-wide body and includes links to home pages, bylaws, charters, minutes and other documents.

UH Manoa Public Relations Directory
The Manoa Public Relations Subcommittee recently launched a UHM public relations initiative, with short term goals, such as encouraging legislators to fund UHM, and long term goals, such as improving how the community perceives UHM. The Public Relations Directory was compiled to centralize access to news items system-wide and includes information and links to various news outlets in the UH system, including department home pages and student newspapers at each campus.

ACT/SAT Admissions Requirements for International Students
UHM would like to recruit more international students; however, the ACT/SAT requirements prove difficult for international students to meet, as they are not administered widely in other countries. To address this concern, some universities implemented policies that no longer require international students to complete the ACT/SAT for general admission. The report summarizes ACT/SAT admissions requirements at peer and benchmark institutions, as well as, other west coast universities, including links to admissions policies for each institution.

Reserve Equipment
All of the Senate's equipment - including 125 I-Clickers, a Polycom conference phone, and a projector - are available for faculty to reserve using our Online Reservation System. A big mahalo to Bonnyjean Manani, 2012-13 Executive Committee Chair, who donated her relief funds to purchase the I-Clickers for the Senate.